ONLINE NOVEL XO Chapter Rule 146- Teamwork is like assembling a puzzle, each piece matters, and when everyone fits together, you create a masterpiece.
With all the new fae, my total number of houseguests is now at fourteen, and that ISN'T including Lucy or Marcus. I can't help but wonder if anyone is going to tell the Mayor about all this. Out of the fourteen fae, thirteen currently have hellish headaches and all of them are hungry. Yeah no way Lucy is cooking for that many. The first thing she does is go around and turn out the lights in the living room, then she orders pizza. Lots of pizza. I wasn't planning on a sudden party, but here we are. Where are they all planning to sleep?
"We will go and look for the assassins tomorrow. One group will stay here to protect Kat, the others will come with me." Ashton announces. The fae are scattered throughout the living room. It's crowded, and made even more busy by the fact that the fae all space themselves carefully so that they are not touching one another. So there's no cramming together on the couch or brushing up against each other when they're trying to get past. While we wait for the pizza, they make short work of rearranging the living room again. All the furniture is pushed up against the walls to clear as much space as possible. Lucy and I sit on one couch, Marcus sits on another and all the fae somehow find places to sit on the floor except for Ashton who is standing next to the couch I'm sitting on. This is so chaotic. In my normal human living room, it looks like they're all ready to go to a comic book convention or something. Everyone looks so outlandish. I hear a hissing sound from one side of the room and see Bast glaring at one of the fae who looks VERY nervous. Bast! I haven't seen him all day. I don't think he likes crowds all that much. I carefully step around all the fae on the floor and scoop him up in my arms before returning to the couch. He meows once impatiently. I can't be bothered getting the lancet thing so I just offer him my wrist so he can bite me. Once he's fed he settles a little and curls up in my lap purring. The fae are all suddenly a lot quieter and they seem nervous. Aside from Ashton and Fin, they are all speaking in fae. I guess they don't all have handy translation charms. I can understand them but Marcus and Lucy can't. They aren't really saying anything too interesting either. Mostly just commenting on all the weird 'human stuff'. When Ashton and Fin first got here, I was delighted to explain everything. It was fun. But now... I don't feel like it. Ashton and Fin can tell them what they need to know and if they get really desperate I'll step in I guess.
As expected, the pizza is a hit and before long it's time to figure out sleeping arrangements.
"Well I'm staying with Kat obviously. Marcus, what are you doing tonight?" Lucy asks. He hesitates before answering.
"I'll head home and come back in the morning. I slept on the couch last night and I think it's going to be occupied tonight. I'm not keen on sharing with this many people anyway." He decides and looks to me for confirmation. I nod, already kind of done with this. I want to go back to bed. I don't care where everyone sleeps.
"Well, about half of you can probably fit in here, although I doubt we have enough blankets for everyone... A few of you can go in the spare room..." Lucy hesitates then glances at me.
"There's your dad's room, but..." She waits to see my response. My eyes widen and I shake my head no. Apparently I DO care where they sleep. I don't want some random fae to mess with my dad's stuff. I don't think I want to mess with it myself, but until I'm up to it I want that room left alone. Lucy understands because she just carries on.
"Yep. so the spare room and living room is all we have. You will have to make it work. I'll see what we have in the way of spare blankets and pillows. You can turn the heating up if it's too cold." She decides.
"Three of the fae will stay awake at all times, they can take shifts sleeping. We have a proper team here now, there is no need to leave the place unguarded." Ashton announces. The fae start splitting themselves into teams and shifts so efficiently that I'm sure they've done it before. With Marcus gone home and three fae staying awake, they eventually manage to find space for everyone to lie down easily enough. Fin moves to the spare room that Ashton was using and a few fae move to sleep in there with him. I am surprised when Ashton follows Lucy and I to my room. Lucy stops him in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrow raised. Ashton stares her down unflinchingly. "I will stay in here." He insists. Lucy shakes her head.
"Hell no. You sneaked in here last night while I was sleeping, no way am I putting up with it two nights in a row." She argues.
"Kat will not sleep well if I leave." Ashton insists. Lucy frowns and I can tell she wants to argue further, but there's a little hint of uncertainty. She knows he can't lie which means he honestly believes that. She looks to me for guidance. I shrug. He's probably right. If he wants to stay here it would help me sleep better. Lucy huffs out an annoyed breath.
"Fine, but I'll be in the bed with Kat so you're sleeping on the floor."
I wake up in the morning to Ashton pressing a light kiss to my forehead. "Hmm?" I grumble.
"I am going out now. I did not want to leave without saying goodbye. Fin will stay here as will half of the guards. You will be safe and I will return to you as soon as I can. I am determined to find the fae and I may be gone a long time. I... I will take my phone. If you need me, if the discomfort becomes too much or if you need me for any other reason, please call." He says quietly. I can hear Lucy breathing beside me so she is definitely still asleep. The sun is barely up. It must be very early. I nod and Ashton leaves. It doesn't take long for that anxious feeling I get whenever he leaves to start creeping in. Damnit. I'm tempted to spend the day in bed again, but I want to shower, and I might be miserable, but I've slept so much that I don't think I can sit still anymore. So I get up and follow my usual morning routine. It takes me three times as long as usual because I stop to cry multiple times. First when I go to brush my teeth and see dad's toothbrush sitting out on the counter. Then again when I'm in the kitchen and I see his favourite coffee mug sitting unwashed in the sink. I almost cry a third time when I find his keys on the counter. His damn keys. He must have left them at home the other day, he forgot them so often that it's hardly a surprise, but the sight of them hurts. Almost everything in the house hurts. I'm tempted to go back and hide in my room. It's safer. At least everything in there belongs to me.
I feed Bast and Marcus arrives not long later. Unlike yesterday, he and Lucy are pretty busy. There are six strange fae in the house plus Fin. So the two of them end up playing host. The fae don't understand a word they say, but they use Fin as a translator or when he's occupied they communicate using what looks like an overly convoluted game of charades. Throughout the day, Fin provides us with updates from Ashton. By lunch time, they have already fought and captured two of the four fae, only the two brothers are remaining. Apparently this fae team is VERY efficient, they were selected by Fin specifically for their useful types of magic. Specifically ones that are good for fighting or tracking. I'm starting to see Marcus' point. If it was this easy, why didn't Ashton call them for help earlier? Was it really so important that he complete the task on his own?